This section is intended to introduce the reader to various aspects of art that may be related to various aspects of the presently described embodiments. This discussion is believed to be helpful in providing the reader with background information to facilitate a better understanding of the various aspects of the present embodiments. Accordingly, it should be understood that these statements are to be read in this light, and not as admissions of prior art.
In order to meet consumer and industrial demand for natural resources, companies often invest significant amounts of time and money in searching for and extracting oil, natural gas, and other subterranean resources from the earth. Particularly, once a desired subterranean resource is discovered, drilling and production systems are often employed to access and extract the resource. These systems may be located onshore or offshore depending on the location of a desired resource. Further, such systems generally include a wellhead assembly through which the resource is extracted.
In the case of an offshore system, such a wellhead assembly may include one or more subsea components that control drilling and/or extraction operations. For instance, such components may include one or more production trees (often referred to as “Christmas trees”), control modules, a blowout preventer system, and various casing, valves, fluid conduits, and the like, that generally facilitate the extraction of resources from a well for transport to the surface. As can be appreciated, production trees often include certain elements for flow monitoring and control that may be more prone to failure than other types of components. For instance, such elements may generally be more sensitive to harsh subsea environmental conditions. Accordingly, these elements may require maintenance and repair during the life of a resource extraction system. Additionally, it may also be desirable to replace such components with updated corresponding components from time to time, such as with those having improved or new features.
In certain conventional resource extraction systems, these components may be distributed at different locations on the tree. Accordingly, retrieval of these components from a subsea location, whether for maintenance or replacement, may be challenging and costly.